‘Mario Kart Wii’

‘Mario Kart Wii’

(Nintendo) for Wii

Genre: Racing; Rating: E

Grade: A

It has been quite a long wait, but Nintendo is trying to knock out gamers with a powerful one-two punch of “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (released just a few weeks ago) and, now, the new release in another beloved franchise, “Mario Kart Wii.”

“Mario Kart” is easily one of the standard-bearers when it comes to weapons-based car combat.

This latest release features a best of all worlds, particularly the racing tracks themselves. Of the 32 tracks, 16 are brand-new and are exactly what you would expect, which is near-joyful perfection. The other 16 are updates of classic tracks from previous iterations of the franchise — an ingenious move because the beach and ghost levels are fan favorites for sure.

The game plays as it always has, with the addition being a more natural feel with the motion-sensitive controls. The visuals are classically colorful and cheery, and bikes have even been included this time around to add a little spice to the races.

Wi-Fi and online play are inclusions that only add to the immense satisfaction you’ll get here. Wii owners should definitely own this game.

‘Dark Sector’

(D3 Publishing) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Genre: Shooter; Rating: M

Grade: B

OK, if you have never heard of or can’t appreciate the humor and joy in watching a terrible movie like 1983’s “Krull,” then I don’t know what to do with you. It’s a hilarious tale of a guy trying to save his princess girlfriend. There’s an assortment of dorky hangers-on, and the hero has to kill the chief bad guy with a five-blade throwing star-sword hybrid called a glaive. It’s a classic, though not in the “Raging Bull” sense — more like the “so stupid it’s fun to watch” sense.

“Dark Sector” really bears no resemblance to “Krull” — except that the main character you’ll play as, Hayden, wields a glaive and some guns. The guns are cool and all, but tossing the glaive around and decapitating bad guys is just too much fun, especially once you can control the glaive from a first-person view.

The story is not as strong as it could be, but it does enough to push you along. And the weapons-and-fighting game play is worlds stronger than that of many other titles (i.e. “Viking” review below). The visuals are fantastic, and often bring to mind the visual style of “Gears of War.”

There are some hitches along the way, but anything that gets me remembering “Krull” can never be a bad thing. Much like the movie, “Dark Sector” is definitely worth some hours of your time.

‘Viking: Battle for Asgard’

(Sega) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Genre: Adventure; Rating: M

Grade: C-

Even fans of button-mashing action games may find themselves bored with “Viking,” which does little to enamor gamers with Viking legends. Making Vikings look cool should not be very hard.

You play as lead character Skarin, and tasked with defending the land against the undead armies of Hel. The cut scenes don’t help the story at all, though they are nice to look at and make dragons look like neat Viking pets. But this is a weak story, and, unfortunately, neither the combat nor the game play sets the world on fire.

The combat is entertaining for a bit, if you get a kick out of hacking off heads and slicing people in half with a big sword and ax. But it loses its luster fast.

— Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard